A study on patients with cerebral palsy

A prospective study was carried-out in the department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Institute of Postgraduate Medicine & Research (IPGMR) now Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) during a period of 9 months starting from 1st April to 31st December 1996 to find out the probable causes of Cerebral Palsy (CP), the types of CP and associated disabilities among these patients attending the department. A total of 5412 patient were treated, of them 93 (1.72%) were diagnosed as CP. Boys and girls were 62 (66.7%) and 30 (33.3%) respetively. Majority 44 (47.3%) were quadriplegic type followed by diplegic type 29 (31.1%), hemiplegic type 15 (16.1%) and athetoid type 1 (1%). Associated disabilities were mental retardation (45.1%), convulsive disorders (38.7%), speech disorders (49.4%), hearing impairment (13.9%), visual problem (8.6%) and squint (26.8%). Spastic quadriplegia was the mostsevere form with multiple disabilities found in our study.